1. Field of the Invention
The invention in a preferred embodiment relates to a simultaneous, one-stage resolution/racemization procedure for .alpha.-amino-.epsilon.-caprolactam
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Often one enantiomer of a compound having D- and L-forms is preferred over the other enantiomer of that compound. For example, lysine, an essential amino acid, exists in both D- and L-forms; however, only L-lysine possesses nutritional value. Although many synthetic methods for the production of lysine have been proposed, all non-biological methods have entailed preparation of either D,L-lysine or D,L-racemic modification of a lysine precursor such as D,L-lysine amide or D,L-.alpha.-amino-.epsilon.-caprolactam. If used in this racemic form, thee precursors would lead to the production of D,L-lysine or salt thereof. Such a mixture might conceivably be used without separation of the non-nutritional D-isomer but such a procedure would result in considerable waste. It is therefore advantageous to separate or resolve the two enantiomers to recover the desired enantiomer and then to racemize the nonnutritional or useless D-enantiomer to form additional D,L-racemic mixture from which the desired L-enantiomer is again recovered, with the procedure being repeated as often as desired. In accordance with a procedure of this kind, essentially all the D-enantiomer is in course transformed into the desired L-form.